Senator Gbenga Ashafa of the Lagos East Senatorial Zone has called on his distinguished colleagues to unite and corporate together to ensure a successful deliberation on the 2016 National Budget.

Last year was the planet’s hottest in modern times by the widest margin on record, setting a troubling new milestone as the climate warms at an increasing pace, US scientists said Wednesday.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to produce former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), in court on February 16 to answer criminal charges filed against him.

The British High Commission said on Wednesday that a Scottish oil and gas delegation will visit Nigeria from Jan. 25 to Jan. 28 to explore investment opportunities in the country. This is contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by Mr Wale Adebajo, Communication Manager, Press and Public Affairs Unit, British Deputy High Commission, Lagos.

The All Progressives Congress has been called upon to respect the rule of law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has challenged the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to make public names of the 15 former governors and 55 Nigerians that he claimed stole N1.34 trillion between 2006 and 2013 or keep his mouth shut permanently.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Wednesday, said it had shut two refineries in the southern city of Port Harcourt and Kaduna in the north because sabotage to crude pipelines. The plants were shut on Sunday because of “breaches” to the Bonny-Okrika supply line to Port Harcourt and the Escravos-Warri pipeline to Kaduna, the company said in an emailed statement.

The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) in a joint collaborative effort with the Government of Botswana (GoB) represented by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology and the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) today announced that the next Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) (http://www.InnovationPrizeforAfrica.org) event will be held in Gaborone, Botswana in June 2016. The decision to host IPA in Botswana received the highest endorsement from H.E. President Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, the President of Botswana.

The Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has called for stillbirths to be taken out of the shadows of healthcare – removing the cultural stigmas that have made it an invisible death and an invisible grief for mothers suffering the devastating loss of their children. She disclosed this during the global launch of the Lancet ‘Ending Preventable Stillbirths’ Series that took place at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Tuesday,

A woman and her son, who allegedly assaulted their neighbour, one Folashade Akinola, by biting off part of her right ear, on Wednesday appeared before an Ikeja Senior Magistrates’ Court, Lagos. Bose Oladunjoye, 44, and Tobi Oladunjoye, 20, both residents of No. 45 Olota St., Abule Egba, Ikeja, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful assault.

SENATORS have commenced debate on the 2016 budget submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

A 39-year-old local gin producer, Akabueze Azubike, who allegedly defrauded his client of N1.3 million, was on Wednesday arraigned in an Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. Azubike, who pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of obtaining money under false pretences and stealing, was granted bail in the sum of N25,000 with two sureties in like sum.

A 36-year-old driver, Onyemechi Madubike, who allegedly stole two packs of iphone screen valued at N600,000 from one Amidu Tahir, was on Wednesday arraigned in an Ikeja Senior Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. Madubike, who resides at No. 179 Alapara St., Akute, Ogun, is facing a charge of stealing. The Prosecutor, Insp Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Jan. 10 at Bestway Transport Park on old Abeokuta Road, Agege, Lagos.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father’s trial for tax fraud will begin on May 31 at a court in Barcelona, a regional superior court said Wednesday.

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, whose arrest sparked a wave of protests by supporters in Nigeria’s southeast, pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday on treason charges. Nnamdi Kanu last month refused to enter a plea when he was first charged with “treasonable felony”, arguing he had no confidence in the then trial judge.